5th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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5th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31
1 John 3:18-24
John 15:1-8
May 3, 2015

To help us understand what our relationship should be with Him, Jesus uses earthly comparisons like “I am the light of the world.”   Last week it was “I am the good shepherd.”  Today it is “I am the true vine.”

We know light is necessary for us to be able to see.  In Jesus’ day, the image of a shepherd was very familiar to the people.  Today, not so much but we can still relate to it.  The image of the vineyard was familiar to the Israelites and, since we live in the Finger Lakes and wine country, it is a meaningful image for us.

When you drive past a vineyard, you do not see grape vines laying on the ground going every which way.  The vines are planted in neat rows and pruned and tied to make it possible for them to thrive and bear fruit.

If you don’t prune the grapes, they won’t bear much fruit.  In the same way we must prune our own lives so that we might thrive.  What do we use as the criteria for pruning?

Honestly, when I trim vines, trees, or bushes, I really don’t know what to prune.  If a tree branch is too low to walk under I cut it.  If it is crooked, I cut it.

For pruning our lives, we need to turn to God to set the priorities in our lives.  We can have a lot going on in our lives and at some point it becomes too much and we start cutting.  Unfortunately, we don’t always trim for the right reasons.  We might keep what is fun rather than what is good for us.  We might hold on to what makes us popular or what is easiest.  Doesn’t it make sense to get rid of the hard stuff?

The other option we might do is rather than get rid of anything, we keep everything but we might do the absolute bare minimum.  We can do this with our faith saying if we just come to church once in a while it is enough.  How much do we get out of it?  If we want to get more out of it, we must put more into it and when that isn’t enough ask God to do the rest.

Let’s go back to the image of Jesus as the vine.  He is the vine and that makes us the branches.  The branches cannot live without the vine.  The nourishment the branches need comes from the vine.

When we seek to do the minimum for our faith are we really connected to Jesus or do we just bump up against Him once in a while?

I’ve mentioned before the wild grape vines at my dad’s.  I thought I had gotten rid of most of them but last week I found a vine that had sprouted up again, growing up and wrapping itself around a tree.  While it was wrapped around the tree it was not connected to the tree.  The vine had its own roots in the ground.

I found the place where the vine came out of the ground and that is where I cut it.  Because it was wrapped around the tree, I couldn’t pull it all down immediately but once I cut it, the branches very quickly died and then I could pull them off.

When we sin, we cut ourselves off from Jesus and experience a spiritual death.  We cannot find true life on our own.  Fortunately, Jesus has an answer.  Jesus has a way to regraft us onto the vine.

It’s called the Sacrament of Reconciliation (or confession).  Do we see it as a gift or do we fear it?

We might fear it because we know we deserve to be punished.  We know God has the power to punish.  The Old Testament speaks of God’s punishment but in the New Testament a new image of mercy.

Think about Saul/Paul.  As Saul, he was a zealous persecutor of the Christians.  So much so that they feared him and didn’t want to go near him.  When he became a Christian, they did not believe it, they still feared him.  For those who did believe him, he became a great instrument of spreading the faith.

Paul moved from being a persecutor to a champion of the faith.  If he can change, so can we.  When we confession our sins we say an act of contrition that includes a promise to not sin again but we do.  There’s where we need God’s help.

How much is Jesus a priority in your life?  If He is not #1, why not?  Would you like to change that?  What will it take?

If we wish to know eternal life, we must remain with Jesus in all things.  May God help us to always remain connected to Him.

4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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4th Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts of the Apostles 4:8-12
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18
April 26, 2015
World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Jesus proclaims “I am the good shepherd.”  We take this as a basic statement.  After all, the 23rd Psalm begins “The Lord is my shepherd” and we know Jesus to be our Lord.

While it seems simple for us, it was blasphemy to the Jews who had not accepted Jesus.  We should note that Jesus didn’t just say, “I am a good shepherd” but that He is “the good shepherd.”

Anyone can be “a” shepherd but to say “the” good shepherd was to make oneself out to be God and that was blasphemy.  They didn’t realize Jesus was God, consubstantial with the Father.

The image of the good shepherd comes from those who tends the flocks, literally “shepherds” but it means so much more here.  Shepherds are the ones in charge of the people, called to lead them in God’s ways.  It was often the kings or priests who were called to shepherd the people.

The problem is that some of the people who God had called to shepherd His people were not doing a good job.  They lead the people to get want they wanted for themselves rather than for the good of the people.

This was nothing new in Jesus’ time on Earth.  We can read the Parable of the Shepherds in chapter 34 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel.  There God speaks of those who are failing in their role as shepherds and proclaims that He Himself will shepherd His people.  We see this come to fulfillment in Jesus.

Being a shepherd for God’s people is a demanding task.  It is not for someone just looking for a job to make money.  Jesus speaks of those who run at the first sign of trouble.  We have to be committed to be shepherds.

How far does the commitment need to go?  In the eight verses in today’s gospel, Jesus says three times that the good shepherd “lays down his life.”  Jesus gives us the perfect example of this in His Crucifixion.  Jesus’ life is not taken from Him.  Remember what Jesus says when He is on trial?  Pilate acts as the one in power but Jesus tells him that he would have no power to crucify Him if it had not been handed over to him.  Jesus’ life is not taken from Him.  He freely gives it up for us.  That is how dedicated Jesus is as our shepherd.

How do we look at our jobs or other commitments?  Are we like the hired hand who runs at the first sign of the wolf or are we committed to the tasks before us?

Do we see what we do as a “job” or a “vocation”?

Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  We are all called to serve God by living our lives as Jesus teaches us and sharing our faith with others.  Do we live as good stewards of the gifts, our time, talent, and treasure that God has given us?

Is it always easy?  Nope.  I know for me being a priest is hard and I don’t do as well as I should but I continue to believe it is what I am called to do.  Being a priest means not being married or having children but I am OK with that.  I believe celibacy is necessary because I could not do what I do as a priest and pastor and still have time to be a good husband and father.  I freely make the commitment of celibacy.

Some people don’t understand why.  I remember when I announced my decision to quit my job with the state to go to seminary.  Many of my co-workers thought it was wonderful.  One day I overheard a couple people talking to each other about how they couldn’t understand why I would quit a good paying job with great benefits to become a priest.  I thought about going over to them and telling them why but then I realize what John says today in the second reading, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”  They didn’t understand why I would do this because they couldn’t see it from the perspective of faith and a vocation.

The reality is that it can be a struggle to talk about our faith today.  When it comes to church teaching on controversial issues like abortion I have literally had people say to me, “we don’t talk about those things” or when I preached on the death penalty, “why did you need to talk about that so much?”  Why do I?  Because it is what I believe, what the Church teaches, and what God called me to say.  Are you willing to be a voice of truth?

Just so you don’t get the impression that being a priest is not rewarding, there are moments that are rewarding.  It comes in the confessional when I can really see the burden of sin lifted from a person and help them to see God’s love and hope for the future.

It is rewarding for me when I visit a sick person and help them find peace in their suffering.

It is rewarding when someone thanks me after a homily and tells me they had never seen it that way before.

It is rewarding when working with a family for a funeral that haven’t been in church in a long time and after the funeral is over they start coming to church regularly again.

Even in the struggles I can realize God’s call.  There are times when I feel I can’t do anymore.  Then God steps in and takes care of what I can’t do.  To me that is God saying this is my call and I am doing what I am supposed to and He will do the rest.

God calls everyone to serve Him.  Are you a good steward?  Could God be calling you to be a priest, religious, or deacon?  Whatever God calls you to be, He will make it possible.

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
1 John 2:1-5a
Luke 24:35-48
April 19, 2015

The story in our gospel passage today comes right after Jesus has appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  They did not recognize Him until He broke bread with them.

The two disciples immediately, and rightly so, go to the other disciples to tell them what has happened.  Meanwhile the Lord also appeared to Simon.

Hearing that Jesus was risen should have brought great joy to the disciples.  Jesus Christ is Risen Today!  The others might have begun to long to see Jesus risen for themselves.

What happens?

Jesus appears to them and says “Peace be with you.”

What is their reaction?  Are they overcome with joy?  No, they are startled and terrified.  Jesus knows they are troubled.  Why are they troubled?  Why do they have questions in their hearts?

As I have said in recent weeks, they did not yet understand what it means for Jesus to have risen.  No one had risen from the dead before.  Jesus had brought the dead, like Lazarus, back to life but that was not resurrection but merely (hardly merely as a miracle) a resuscitation, not a resurrection.

Resurrection is not a return to physical life as we know it but neither is it devoid of our lives here on Earth.  Jesus shows them His hands and feet that still bear the marks of the nails from His Crucifixion.  He also eats with them to show that He is risen with his body.

Part of their troubles and questions is rooted in the fact that this is not what they expected to happen.  They expected a messiah-king who would defeat their enemies and become a great earthly king.

They did not expect the messiah to suffer, die, and rise but Jesus now explains what they could not have understood before His Death and Resurrection – how the prophets had foretold His Suffering, and how He himself had spoken of His coming Passion and that He would rise.

The disciples experienced all of Jesus’ ministry, passion, and resurrection one step at a time.  We see it as a whole and know how it fits what has been foretold so we can look at it with joy, not with the troubles and questions that the disciples did.

That means we have no troubles or questions, right?  Won’t that be nice?

The reality is we still have troubles.  We have questions.  Why is there evil in the world, wars, violence…?  Why do people suffer great illnesses?  Why don’t we have enough money?

Given what we see in this world, questions like this can seem quite natural.  Questions like these can lead us to question if there is a god.  Is this a sin?

If we make a choice to believe God doesn’t exist or, at least, doesn’t care, I think it can be sin.  But if our thoughts wonder why God allows suffering means we understand that the violence and suffering are not what God desires for us.  God desires only good but God loves us so much as to give us “free will.”  That means we can make whatever choices we want.  Sometimes, we, or others, make bad choices that lead to suffering.  For instance, my mother smoked for thirty years and then ended up with emphysema and eventually cancer.

Violence like the many shootings happen because people choose to do evil.

This explains some of the suffering but not all.  The reality is we aren’t going to understand everything.  In our human form, we cannot understand everything but in faith we can look beyond evil and the suffering towards what Jesus reveals to us in His Crucifixion and Resurrection, eternal life.

This gives us peace and the ability to trust in God.  Now, we must be witnesses to what we belief and tell others about Jesus.

 

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily

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2nd Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts of the Apostles 4:32-35
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31
April 12, 2015

The disciples are scared.  Jesus their leader has been arrested, beaten, and crucified.  They fear the same thing could happen to them so they gather together behind locked doors.

Not only would they have been scared but probably confused.  The tomb has been found empty.  In their minds, what has happened to Jesus seems impossible.  So they are greatly troubled.  In the midst of their troubles Jesus appears to them and says “Peace be with you.”

He knows their troubles and He wants to help them.  He knows they don’t understand.  No one has risen from the dead before so they don’t know what to think about the empty tomb and the report that He is risen.

Knowing this, Jesus shows them His hands where the nails were driven through and His side that was pierced by the lance.  He does this to show that He is not just a ghost or apparition but that He is risen, body and soul.

In doing so, He shows what the Resurrection will be like for us.  Some early heresies in the church taught that the body was evil and that in death we would be set free from our bodies.  Jesus’ Resurrection appearances show us that we rise body and soul.  Both our body and souls are created by God and are fundamentally good.

The disciples would have found great comfort in seeing Jesus.  I know I find comfort in knowing that He has risen and that I can share in the Resurrection so everything doesn’t end with physical death.

Jesus came to the disciples in their fear but there was one who wasn’t there, Thomas.  When he hears of Jesus’ appearance, Thomas says he will not believe unless he sees Jesus for himself.

For this we call him Doubting Thomas but I doubt we would have been any different.  No one had risen from the dead before.  Why now?

Jesus had first appeared to Mary Magdalene alone.  With just one person seeing it, it would be very easy to think she was imagining it but then, without Thomas present, Jesus appears to the group of disciples.

Hearing it from the group, Thomas could have believed.  We believe today without having seen the Risen Jesus for ourselves.  How do we believe?  In part it is through the Holy Spirit but it is also because of the community of believers who did see the Risen Jesus and, through the Scriptures, shared their experience.

They say “seeing is believing” but we realize we are never going to see everything there is for ourselves.  We have to willing to accept the testimony of others but not just anyone.

The Acts of the Apostles tells us how the early Christian Community held everything in common.  They went so far as to give everything they had to the community and trusted in the community to provide for them.

While the sharing of material wealth was part of the early Christian Community, community is not just about sharing material wealth.

To be a community is to be one mind and heart, to share what our faith means to us, to trust one another.  Community also helps us to discern together what is really going on.  One person might have imagined seeing Jesus but the whole community?

So, Thomas should have believed what the other disciples had told him but it won’t have been easy.

What does being part of a community of faith mean to us?  Is Church just something where we all come to the same place to receive Communion?  Do we think we know best what is right and wrong or do we seek to learn from our community of faith what God teaches?

Now, it is not the community of faith that decides what is right and wrong?  We don’t vote on what is right and wrong but we count on the community of our faith, not just today but the whole Church over 2,000 years of history to help us understand what God says is right and wrong.  The community is the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Doing what is right is not easy.  We need the support of the community to do better but we also need to know about God’s Mercy.  Today is Divine Mercy Sunday.  God’s forgiveness and mercy are part of what we believe in as a community of faith.  We need to be welcoming and forgiving to people who come here.

Community…..  what does it mean for you?  What do we need to do to be the community that God calls us to be?

Easter Vigil 2015 Homily

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Easter Vigil 2015
Genesis 1:1-2:2
Genesis 22:1-18
Exodus 14:15-5:1
Isaiah 55:1-11
Romans 6:3-11
Mark 16:1-7
April 4, 2015

Tonight is a special night.

It’s special for our twelve people who will be entering into the Church tonight and completing their Sacraments of Initiation.

Watching them receive these sacraments is a healthy reminder for each of us to think about what the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Eucharist mean for ourselves.

Today our readings span the story of Salvation History to remind us of how God always cares for His people, reaching a pinnacle in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.

When did God begin a relationship with the people?  At the very beginning.  There has never been a time (and never will be a time) when God has not been in relationship with the people.

Our first reading tonight goes back to the very beginning when God was all that there was.  God created the universe out of nothing and gave it order.

The story of creation we heard tonight is not meant to give a scientific explanation of creation.  (see our website “Catholic Teaching and the Question of Evolution”).  The story of Genesis tells us how God brings order to creation and places humankind, created in His Image, male and female, at the pinnacle of creation.

I know about big bang and evolution but to think that this could have happened, given the complexity of the universe, without God’s direction seems impossible to me.

Then our readings turn to the life of Abraham, our father in faith.  Abraham had waited a long time to see God’s promise of a son fulfilled.  Then God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.  It seems impossible but Abraham does it.  Would we?  Abraham made a third day journey to do this.  How often do we pray never to suffer and if we do for it to be over quickly?

God stops Abraham before he goes through with it.  In the end, it is God who will sacrifice His Son Jesus for us but that comes later in the story.

Then comes the Exodus when God rescues His people from slavery to the Egyptians.  He does it in a way that only God could with the parting of the Red Sea, revealing His power.  We see how the Israelites pass through the waters of the Red Sea to enter into new life.

Through the prophet Isaiah God invites all to come to the water.  Our human bodies need water for life.  We need God to know true life.  We can spend a lot of effort on earthly things that never really satisfy us.  We are created in God’s image and so the only thing that can truly fulfill us is life in Christ.

What is the cost?

There is no monetary cost for life in Christ.  We cannot buy life in Christ.  We must hand our lives over to Christ.  Just as the Israelites passed through the waters of the Red Sea, we pass enter through the waters of baptism to die with Christ.

It isn’t easy to follow God’s will.  The reality is that at times we fail.  God knows this and still loves us so much to send His only Son to die for us.

We celebrated His death yesterday but we celebrate His death each day when we celebrate the Mass we receive the Eucharist where Jesus gives up His Body and Blood for us.

The story does not end with Jesus being laid in the tomb.  Tonight we hear that the tomb has been found empty and that Jesus has been raised.  We are to die to the things of this world so that we might rise with Jesus to new life.

We receive new life in the sacraments.  In Baptism we enter into life in Christ.  In Confirmation, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Baptism and Confirmation happen once in a lifetime.  We are called to celebrate the Eucharist as Jesus’ gift to us over and over to nourish our souls.

Do we fall short?  Do we sin?  Yes, and so Jesus gives us the gift of Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we might be restored to life with Him.

So, now it is time to proceed with our celebration of the sacraments.

Good Friday 2015

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Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42
April 3, 2015

Jesus has been crucified.  This is a punishment used only for the worst of criminals but Jesus is not a criminal.  When they bring Jesus to Pilate, Pilate asks, “What charge do you bring against this man?”  They only reply, “If we were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

How could they treat Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, this way?  Distraught at what is happening, Peter denies Jesus three times.

Yet, this should have been expected.  Jesus told His disciples that He would suffer but they could not believe or understand it.  Yet, it wasn’t new with Jesus.  600 years before Jesus, Isaiah speaks of the Suffering Servant.

Isaiah tells us that the Suffering Servant will be raised high and greatly exalted.  This is Jesus.  Isaiah also speaks of the servant as the one who will be marred.  Jesus is scourged and beaten.  The Jews expected a great political king but, as Isaiah spoke of the Suffering Servant, Jesus had “no stately bearing.”

Why must Jesus suffer?

Isaiah gives the answer stating, “he was pierced for our offenses, cursed for our sins.”  Why?  “through his suffering, my servant shall justify many.”

Jesus dies for us.

But before He dies for us, He has another purpose to fulfill.  As He says to Pilate, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.”

Some people today believe that there is no universal truth, that all are free to believe whatever they want.  This is not so.  There is a truth that lasts forever and it comes from God through Jesus.

Jesus came knowing that He would die for our sins but before He freely gives His life for us, He teaches us what it means to be disciples.

What He teaches is the Father’s Will but it is not a popular message.  It leads some to oppose Him.  Are we willing to say an unpopular message?

Jesus’ teaching gets Him arrested.  When Jesus was questioned He was given a chance to speak.  He could have recanted what He had said or claim to have been misunderstood.  He doesn’t.  In fact, when He is questioned, He tells them to ask anyone who has heard Him speak what He has said.  Even facing death, Jesus stands by what He had said.  Would you?

If you had spoken what is true, would you change it to save your earthly life?

If you had lied, would you come clean before death?

When faced with the possibility of arrest, Peter denies Jesus three times.  Would you have done any different?

If we look at the story of Jesus’ Passion in solely earthly terms, it would seem His life was taken from Him but it is not.

As the Suffering Servant, Jesus willingly hands His life over, submitting to our Father’s Will.

Why?

Because He knew that there was a benefit that would come from His Suffering.  What benefit did Jesus receive from His Crucifixion?  He received no benefit for Himself.

We are the ones who receive the benefit of Jesus’ Crucifixion, the forgiveness of our sins, the salvation of our souls.

What Jesus did, He did for us!

Holy Thursday Homily 2015

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Holy Thursday, Year A
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15
April 2, 2015

The Passover stood placed at the head of the Jewish calendar and the Jews celebrated it as a “memorial feast” and as a “perpetual institution.”

When we call it a “memorial feast” it is not just a “play” that remembers something from the past.  Its goal is to make present what happened in the past.  As a “perpetual institution” it was not celebrated just once but each and every year.

It is also a feast that is celebrated in each household in the same way.  When we have a party for ourselves we choose how to celebrate it.  The way the Passover was to be celebrated was given by God.

The Passover was a celebration of the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.  An unblemished lamb was offered as a sacrifice and unleavened bread was used because they had to leave quickly, without time to wait to leaven the bread.

In setting them free from slavery, the Passover was a transformative event in Salvation history of the Jewish people.

Jesus was a good Jew and so He celebrated the Passover each year.  Tonight we celebrate the last time He celebrated the Passover before His Crucifixion.

Jesus took the great feast of the Jews that was fundamental to their identity and transformed it into what we celebrate as a “perpetual feast”, the Eucharist.

Jesus himself took the bread and made His Body.  He took the wine and made it His Blood and told us to do this in remembrance of him.

The Eucharist is at the core of who we are as Catholics but it is not an event by itself.  It can only be properly understood in conjunction with Jesus’ Crucifixion that we will celebrate tomorrow.  In the Eucharist Jesus gives us His Body and Blood that He willingly gives up for us on the Cross.

John adds one important element to Jesus’ celebration of the Last Supper that is important for us to be able to understand what it means to be a Eucharistic People, the Washing of the Feet.

The word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.”  If we truly value what Jesus has given us, we must realize that as Jesus does for us, we must do for others.  So, in the washing of the feet, Jesus gives us “a model to follow.”

This night is known for Jesus’ Institution of the Eucharist but it is also seen as the institution of the priesthood for without priests we cannot celebrate the Eucharist.

In baptism, we are all called to be priest, prophet, and king, willing to make sacrifices for others, to share God’s word, and to serve others.

As an ordained priest, I am called to do this is a particular way.  As an ordained priest, I am the one called to preside at the sacrifice of the Eucharist.

As an ordained priest, I am trained in a particular way to proclaim God’s Word in preaching at Mass.

As an ordained priest, I am called to serve you in a particular way.  Nothing I do as a priest should be about me.  I have needs like everyone else but priesthood comes first.  In accepting celibacy, I am available in a way that I don’t see possible if I had a family of my own.

In a moment I will wash the feet of twelve of our parishioners.  They are a diverse group ranging from one who will receive First Communion next month to the retired.  From people who will be baptized and received into our Church at the Vigil to people who have been part of our parish their whole lives.  Some serve at Mass while others serve in other ways.

It reminds all of us of what Jesus did at the Last Supper.  For me, it is a humble reminder of my call to serve you.

This is not an easy task.  There are days I do not feel capable of being your priest and pastor.  I accomplish what I do only by God’s grace.

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Year B – Homily

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Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Year B
Gospel for Blessing of the Palms – Mark 11:1-10
Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Mark 14:1-15:47
March 29, 2015

Why did it have to happen this way?

Jesus’ final week started out with a grand entrance to Jerusalem.  He sends His disciples ahead to make preparations for the Passover and they find everything just as He describes.

As He enters Jerusalem, He is given a royal welcome with cloaks draped and palms waving, a glorious welcome.

But there are those who plot against Jesus…..

Even though Jesus has told His disciples about His coming passion, the people do not realize what it is about to happen.  When the woman anoints Jesus, people criticize her for wasting the expensive oil but Jesus praises her for anointing Him with His death to come.

Then we hear how Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, will betray Him, from royal welcome to betrayal.  Jesus actually tells the Apostles that He knows one of them will betray Him.  They are distressed.

He tells them they will have their faith shaken.  When we are in distress we turn to Jesus in faith for help, not to be told our faith will be shaken.

Peter responds by saying his faith will never be shaken.  Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him three times.  Peter says no way but Jesus is right.

When is our faith shaken?

After celebrating the Passover, Jesus goes off to pray and takes Peter, James, and John with Him.  As He goes to pray, He tells them to keep watch.  Do we keep vigilant for the Lord?  On Thursday, we will celebrate the Last Supper.  After that Mass, we will have quiet adoration.  Will you come and stay afterwards for a few minutes to “keep watch”?

Jesus himself is greatly distressed.  He knows what is about to happen and so He prays, “Take this cup away from me.”  Is not the same thing we pray when we face distress?  But Jesus’ prayer does not end there.  He continues, “but not what I will but what you will.”  Jesus hands it over to God.  We might often turn to God in our distress but do we hand it all over to His Will?

Then comes the betrayal?  A kiss, normally a sign of love, becomes an act of betrayal and Jesus is arrested.

He has done nothing wrong so those who plot to kill Him have to get people to offer false testimony but they get caught in their lies because their testimony does not agree.

Even so, Jesus is taken away for trial.  Not understanding what is going on, the disciples flee.  Peter remains near enough to see what is going on.  When confronted he denies knowing Jesus.  When he realizes his denial, he is broken and weeps.

Pilate allows Jesus to be crucified just to satisfy the crowd.  Jesus is mocked, beaten, scourged, and crucified.

It makes no sense.  The crowds cry out “He saved others; he cannot save himself.”  They have no idea that what they see as proof that He is not the messiah (his Crucifixion) is the very act by which He saves us.

It is in Jesus’ death that the centurion realizes that Jesus truly was the Son of God.  His death reveals the unlimited nature of God’s love.

When I began, I said the week started well with a royal welcome.  Our reading ends with Jesus’ death but there is more to come but for that we have to wait for next week.

5th Sunday in Lent, Year B – Homily

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5th Sunday in Let, Year B
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12:20-33
March 22, 2015

Do we really want Jesus to be part of our lives?

One might be inclined to say I won’t be here in church if I didn’t but how far does our desire to know Jesus go?  Is there something we are holding back on?

From the beginning God has always had a relationship with His people but the nature of the relationship has changed.  It has been based on “covenants”.

God made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.  Abraham believed in faith.

Then God formed a covenant through Moses with all of Israel.  This covenant was based on the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets.  The people were to keep the commandments and in exchange God would watch over them and care for them.

It seemed simple.  The Israelites had clear commandments of what they must do but they failed and fell into sin.

The prophet Jeremiah tells us God will offer a new covenant in our hearts.  This covenant is based on love, specifically the love that Jesus shows us when He dies for us on the Cross.

What does the new covenant require of us?  Love of God.

What does it mean to love God?

We need to trust in God and when we do, we follow His commandments, not out of obligation but rather love.

To love God we need to turn our whole being, body, mind, and soul over to God.  This is not easy.  It’s easy to ask God for help with our problems but we might hold back.  We might expect God to fix the problem but we want Him to leave the rest of our lives alone, meaning we don’t give our whole being to God.

The problem is that when we hold something back, we restrict God’s ability to help us.  We need to admit our weaknesses if we expect God to help us.  We need to admit our sins if we expect God to wipe away our sins and to wash away our guilt.

Jesus tells us, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

I see two ways of looking at this.  First, there is earthly death.  Heaven awaits us who believe but we need to die in this world first.

There is another way of dying that we must consider as a second way of interpreting Jesus’ words.  We must die to the things of this world.  What things are we not ready to let go of?

It might be as simple as needing our coffee.  It might be our home or our favorite gadget.  It’s the attachment to the thing that is the problem.

There was a story of an Irish man who deeply loved the Irish land.  When it came time for him to die he wanted to be able to take a little piece of Ireland with him.  So, as he lay dying he held some dirt from the ground in his hand.  To hold it, he clinched it inside his hand.  When it came time from him to die, the angel came to take him to Heaven.  The angel extended his hand to the man but the man could not take it without letting go of the dirt in his hand.  He continued to grow weaker and weaker.  As he grew weaker, he could no longer clasp the dirt in his hand and dropped it.  As soon as he dropped it, the angel took his hand and led him to Heaven.

It may not be time for you to die yet but is there something you are holding onto that keeps you from letting God transform you into all that He means for you to be?

When you long to feel God’s presence, is there something you continue to hold onto that keeps God at a distance?

4th Sunday in Lent, Year B – Homily

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4th Sunday in Let, Year B
2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 3:14-21
March 15, 2015

 

The Books of Chronicles help tell the story of God’s relationship with the people.  Today’s passage comes from a time when the people of Israel had turned away from God and lived in infidelity, committing abominations against the Lord’s ways and polluting the Temple by their sinful acts.

The Lord was not pleased.  Things had gone too far.  God had tried to help the people to be good, early and often, by sending them the prophets as His messengers.

Did they listen to the prophets?  At times some did, like the Ninevites who repeated at Jonah’s preaching.  Not this time.  The people are mocking the prophets and ignoring what they said.

It seemed like there was no remedy.  I stress “seemed” because with God there is always hope for God is rich is mercy and love.  God always works towards the salvation of His people.

The reality is that we are human and none of us are perfect.  We make bad choices.  God knows that.  God knows we need to be healed of our sins.

What does it take for God to heal us?

In the Book of Numbers we read the story of the people sinning and, as punishment, the Lord sent poisonous saraph serpents who bite the people.  When they repented and called out to the Lord for help, God told Moses to mount one of the saraph serpents on a pole and all who looked at the saraph lifted up on the pole in faith would be healed.

To heal us of our sins, God gives us the perfect remedy.  What does God do and why?

“God so loved the world that he gave his only son.”

When we realize we have done something to hurt another human being, our tendency is try to do something to make it up to them.  When we sin, how do we make it up to God?

We might try to make up for it by doing a good deed.  We might also want to change our behavior before we ask God for forgiveness.  We should try to change our behavior and make amends with good deeds but we shouldn’t do these to “earn God’s forgiveness.”  We cannot earn God’s forgiveness.

Receiving God’s forgiveness is not based on mathematics of weighing the sin against our good deeds.  God’s forgiveness is made possible for us by Jesus’ giving of his life on the Cross.

Even with Jesus’ death, we should not look at it as a weighing of the good and bad.  What about Jesus’ Crucifixion makes it possible for our sins to be forgiven?  It is because Jesus’ Crucifixion is an act of love and surrender.

When we sin, we must try to make amends for our actions and we must try to change our behavior but we should not wait to change to ask God for forgiveness.  Asking God for forgiveness should be the first thing we do.

We ask God for His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  God is rich in mercy and eager to forgive us but we need to come to Him with a humble and contrite heart.

Confessing our sins is not easy.  We don’t like to admit our failures, especially to another human being but it can be a powerful experience.

As the one hearing the confessions, it can be a humbling experience.  Sometimes hearing confessions can be one of the highlights of my week.  It’s not that I want to hear bad things about other people.  I don’t.

To see people’s burdens lifted when I give them absolution reveals God’s power at work in me.  For the last two years, our diocese has had a day of penance where Confession is offered in all the parishes on a given day.

When they first announced this I thought that we didn’t need to offer it for seven hours.  There won’t be that many people.  I wondered what I would do for all that time just sitting in the confessional.  I brought books with me to read.

When the day was over, I was sort of right.  Seven hours was not the right amount of time.  It took me a little over eight hours to hear all the confessions.  I never picked up any of the books I had brought.  I only left the confessional once for a bathroom break.  It was a powerful experience.

Last year, it only took me six and a half hours to hear all the confessions.  Next week, on Tuesday, March 24th we will again have a Day of Penance and Mercy across our diocese.  Do you need to come?

If you seek the sacrament but can’t make it on the 24th or Saturday afternoon, please call for an appointment.  God is rich in mercy so there is plenty of forgiveness to go around.